The quantum Gaussian-Schell model: a link between classical and quantum optics.

The quantum theory of the electromagnetic field uncovered that classical forms of light were indeed produced by distinct superpositions of nonclassical multiphoton wave packets. This situation prevails for partially coherent light, the most common kind of classical light. Here, for the first time, to our knowledge, we demonstrate the extraction of the constituent multiphoton quantum systems of a partially coherent light field.

Analysis of blood methylation quantitative trait loci in East Asians reveals ancestry-specific impacts on complex traits.

Methylation quantitative trait loci (mQTLs) are essential for understanding the role of DNA methylation changes in genetic predisposition, yet they have not been fully characterized in East Asians (EAs). Here we identified mQTLs in whole blood from 3,523 Chinese individuals and replicated them in additional 1,858 Chinese individuals from two cohorts. Over 9% of mQTLs displayed specificity to EAs, facilitating the fine-mapping of EA-specific genetic associations, as shown for variants associated with height.

Experimental Guesswork with Quantum Side Information Using Twisted Light.

Guesswork is an information-theoretic quantity which can be seen as an alternate security criterion to entropy. Recent work has established the theoretical framework for guesswork in the presence of quantum side information, which we extend both theoretically and experimentally. We consider guesswork when the side information consists of the BB84 states and their higher-dimensional generalizations.

Sub-shot-noise-limited phase estimation via single-mode inputs.

In 1981, Caves pointed out that the phase sensitivity of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer with single-mode inputs is bounded by the shot-noise limit. The quantum Fisher information analysis shows that this statement holds true for the scenario where two antisymmetric phase shifts occur in two arms, but it is invalid for the scenario where an unknown phase is embedded in one of two arms. In this paper, we focus on the phase sensitivity directed against the latter scenario.

Conditional quantum plasmonic sensing.

The possibility of using weak optical signals to perform sensing of delicate samples constitutes one of the main goals of quantum photonic sensing. Furthermore, the nanoscale confinement of electromagnetic near fields in photonic platforms through surface plasmon polaritons has motivated the development of highly sensitive quantum plasmonic sensors. Despite the enormous potential of plasmonic platforms for sensing, this class of sensors is ultimately limited by the quantum statistical fluctuations of surface plasmons.

Observation of the modification of quantum statistics of plasmonic systems.

For almost two decades, researchers have observed the preservation of the quantum statistical properties of bosons in a large variety of plasmonic systems. In addition, the possibility of preserving nonclassical correlations in light-matter interactions mediated by scattering among photons and plasmons stimulated the idea of the conservation of quantum statistics in plasmonic systems. It has also been assumed that similar dynamics underlie the conservation of the quantum fluctuations that define the nature of light sources.

Tunable dual plasmon-induced transparency based on a monolayer graphene metamaterial and its terahertz sensing performance.

In this paper, tunable dual plasmon-induced transparency (PIT) is achieved by using a monolayer graphene metamaterial in the terahertz region, which consists of two graphene strips of different sizes and a graphene ring. As the dual PIT effect is induced by the destructive interference between the two quasi-dark modes and the bright mode, we propose a four-level plasmonic system based on the linearly coupled Lorentzian oscillators to explain the mechanism behind the dual PIT. It is proved that the theoretical results agree well with the simulation results.

A cell-type deconvolution meta-analysis of whole blood EWAS reveals lineage-specific smoking-associated DNA methylation changes.

Highly reproducible smoking-associated DNA methylation changes in whole blood have been reported by many Epigenome-Wide-Association Studies (EWAS). These epigenetic alterations could have important implications for understanding and predicting the risk of smoking-related diseases. To this end, it is important to establish if these DNA methylation changes happen in all blood cell subtypes or if they are cell-type specific.

Orbital-angular-momentum-enhanced estimation of sub-Heisenberg-limited angular displacement with two-mode squeezed vacuum and parity detection.

We report on an orbital-angular-momentum-enhanced scheme for angular displacement estimation based on two-mode squeezed vacuum and parity detection. The sub-Heisenberg-limited sensitivity for angular displacement estimation is obtained in an ideal situation. Several realistic factors are also considered, including photon loss, dark counts, response-time delay, and thermal photon noise.

Sub-shot-noise-limited phase estimation via SU(1,1) interferometer with thermal states.

We theoretically study the phase sensitivity of an SU(1,1) interferometer with a thermal state and a squeezed vacuum state as inputs and parity detection as the measurement. We find that the phase sensitivity can beat the shot-noise limit and approaches the Heisenberg limit, with increasing input photon number, in an ideal situation. We also consider the effect of various noises, including photon loss, dark counts, and thermal photon noise.

Graphene-based dual-band independently tunable infrared absorber.

In this paper, we theoretically demonstrate a dual-band independently tunable absorber consisting of a stacked graphene nanodisk and graphene layer with nanohole structure, and a metal reflector spaced by insulator layers. This structure exhibits a dipole resonance mode in graphene nanodisks and a quadrupole resonance mode in the graphene layer with nanoholes, which results in the enhancement of absorption over a wide range of incident angles for both TE and TM polarizations. The peak absorption wavelength is analyzed in detail for different geometrical parameters and the Fermi energy levels of graphene.